'Pity, for he was the best-natured, and most cheery and hopeful young fellow that ever was.'
I named another boy.
'Oh, he is all right. Lives here yet; has a wife and children, and is prospering.'
Same verdict concerning other boys.
I named three school-girls.
'The first two live here, are married and have children; the other is long ago dead—never married.'
I named, with emotion, one of my early sweethearts.
'She is all right. Been married three times; buried two husbands, divorced from the third, and I hear she is getting ready to marry an old fellow out in Colorado somewhere. She's got children scattered around here and there, most everywheres.'
The answer to several other inquiries was brief and simple—
'Killed in the war.'